Auditing Your Office
Waste Stream With Sara and Josh
WHAT
Engage office staff in a hands-on in-office waste stream audit.
WHY
When we discard waste, we make a split-second decision of which
bin to use. Auditing the office waste stream leads to lasting behavior change and increased awareness and commitment to AU’s
Zero Waste Policy.
HOW LONG
The waste audit should take between 20 and 30 minutes,
depending on the amount of waste and number of participants.
HOW
Step 1
Request an audit kit
E-mail zerowaste@american.edu
and sign out an office waste audit
kit. The kit includes:
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plastic floor cover
latex gloves
signs to label waste streams
scale to weigh waste
extra garbage bags
waste audit worksheet & clipboard
Above: Floor cover with signs arranged
Below: Scale, latex gloves, and the waste audit worksheet
The kit can be picked up in the
Osborn building.
http://www.american.edu/sustainability
Revised: 3/5/2013
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Step 2
Collect your waste
Collect all of the trash bags in your
office. Make sure to
include waste stations in break
rooms, lounges, and hallways, paper towel bins in restrooms, and
individual desk-side bins.
Tip: Do your audit on a day when
the trash is not collected to ensure
bins are full and you are auditing at
least 24 hours of waste.
Step 3
Stage your audit space
Find an open space, at least 3’ x 3’
is recommended. Lay out a cover
to protect your floor or table from
getting dirty. Place the signs in two
identical rows to mark the spaces
where each type of waste
(organized by the bin in which it is
placed) will be sorted.
Helpful Hint: The signs are the same as the
ones found above bins across campus and
include helpful pictures if you are unsure of
what should be placed in which waste
stream.
http://www.american.edu/sustainability
Revised: 3/5/2013
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Step 4
Weigh your waste
Use the scale (as pictured) to weigh
each bag of waste. Write down the
total weight for each waste stream
(black landfill, green commingled recycled, blue paper recycling, and orange organics) in the corresponding
box on the worksheet. If you have
multiple bags per waste stream, add
them together to get a total for each
waste stream.
Step 5
Empty trash bags onto audit space
Empty each bag onto the audit space in the area designated for its waste stream.
http://www.american.edu/sustainability
Revised: 3/5/2013
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Step 6
Sort through the waste and see
what is “contaminated”
One waste stream at a time, separate items that do not belong in
that waste stream. These items
“contaminate” those waste
streams. Set them aside, and then
in an extra garbage bag, weigh the
contamination for each waste
stream and write down the weight
in the corresponding box on the
worksheet.
Tip: If you have a lot of participants, assign a different group to
each waste stream.
Step 7
Josh separates contamination from the blue paper and
cardboard waste stream
Left: A plastic bag contaminates the paper waste stream
Right: The plastic bag and other contamination is removed
and set aside to be weighed
Discussion Questions
While the contamination is being separated, ask your participants the following questions. This is not a comprehensive
list, feel free to substitute your own.
 What are some contaminants you see?
 Which waste stream is the most contaminated?
 What can we do to change this?
Example: In our sample waste audit, Sara noticed that the
landfill waste stream was filled with Alterra coffee packets
from the office coffee machine (pictured right). Sara suggested the office look into contracting a company like
Terracycle to collect these packets, so that they can be
repurposed and kept out of landfill.
http://www.american.edu/sustainability
Revised: 3/5/2013
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Step 8
Place all waste into the correct stream
Once each waste stream’s contamination has been removed and weighed, place all of the waste into the correct waste streak at the top of the audit area (pictured
below). The waste can then be bagged and placed back
into the cans it came from for regular pickup by housekeeping staff.
Waste is fully sorted and ready to be returned to
the waste bins where it came from.
Step 8
Complete waste audit worksheet
Add up the weights of each waste stream and each
stream’s contamination in the provided boxes. A quick
calculation will give you the contamination percentage for
each waste stream and total waste diversion for your office
space. In the example audit in this guide, the first floor of
Osborn achieved an 84% waste diversion rate. See the
example worksheet (on the back) for more details.
http://www.american.edu/sustainability
Revised: 3/5/2013
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Contact
For more information about Green Office
(GO!) and to register your office:
Joshua Kaplan, Sustainability Outreach Specialist
Phone: 202-885-6262
E-mail: jfkaplan@american.edu
Web: http://bit.ly/AUGreenOffice
For more information about American
University’s Zero Waste program:
Helen Lee, Zero Waste Coordinator
Phone: 202-885-2351
E-mail: zerowaste@american.edu
Web: http://american.edu/zerowaste
facebook.com/GreenAU
facebook.com/ZeroWasteAU
twitter.com/GreenAU
twitter.com/ZeroWasteAU
http://www.american.edu/sustainability
Revised: 3/5/2013
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